Two UAVs launched from Lebanon entered Israeli airspace on Sunday morning and exploded in the Shlomi area of the Western Galilee. The IDF said the aerial targets fell in a military area near the border and not inside a civilian community.
The military stated that following alerts warning of hostile aircraft infiltration in several areas of northern Israel, two suspicious aerial targets were identified falling inside Israeli territory near the border with Lebanon. No injuries were reported, and the circumstances of the incident are under investigation.
Cabinet member and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich responded to the incident by calling for a forceful Israeli response.
“The fire toward the northern communities is a test of the Dahieh equation that the Prime Minister announced," Smotrich said.
“I call on him to implement it with determination and force and bring down additional buildings in Dahieh today," he added. “We are in critical days of shaping the region for many years to come. We promised security to the residents of the north, and we must deliver."
The incident comes amid ongoing security tensions along Israel’s northern border. Last week, following a Hezbollah attack on Israeli territory, the IDF carried out a strike in Beirut, a move that was later followed by an Iranian attack involving approximately 23 missiles fired at Israel and two waves of Israeli Air Force strikes in Iran.
Defense Minister Israel Katz said last week that “every attack on northern communities will lead to a strike in Dahieh," the Beirut neighborhood considered Hezbollah’s main stronghold in Lebanon.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir also responded to the Hezbollah attacks, saying he would reiterate his position during a meeting with the Prime Minister, “I will demand and make my position clear once again today when I talk with the Prime Minister: For every drone, a missile. For every violation, fire. For every UAV, Dahiya must tremble. For every hair on the head of an IDF soldier, a thousand Hezbollah terrorists. When facing terrorism, we do not accept it - we defeat it." he said.